Looks like Brandon Bass will continue to be the first power forward off the bench for the Orlando Magic at least for as long as the Magic continue to win.

Bass has played in six consecutive games, all Magic victories, as the primary backup to starter Rashard Lewis. Coach Stan Van Gundy has said he wants both Bass and fellow backup Ryan Anderson to be ready for the playoffs because matchup considerations ultimately will determine whether Bass or Anderson come off the bench in the postseason.

"A lot of times what I've been doing now with some of these teams is having Rashard start the second quarter so I can sort of see who the other team is going to play," Van Gundy said Wednesday. "But we've won six in a row, and it's been Brandon playing. So, when you're going real well, I'm a little hesitant to sort of break up what's going on. So, he'll probably be the guy back in here again tomorrow [tonight against the Chicago Bulls]. That doesn't mean that the other guy won't get in there, but right now, I'm not going to break up what we're doing."

Bass hasn't played in seven consecutive Magic games since he appeared in each of the team's first nine games this season.

Helping hand

About 200 Magic employees volunteered in Kissimmee on Wednesday to help build a playground at Oak Street Park Community Center. It marked the fourth time the team has built a playground with KaBOOM!, a nonprofit group that aims to give kids places to play.

Bass and C Dwight Howard attended the ribbon-cutting ceremony after they completed practice on Wednesday afternoon.

Layups

● Backup C Marcin Gortat joked that he spent part of Tuesday night's win over the Los Angeles Clippers wondering whether he had played so badly in a recent scrimmage that Van Gundy didn't want to play him against the Clippers. Howard played the game's first 32 minutes, 17 seconds before Gortat got into the game. Gortat showed good humor about it Wednesday. "That's my role," Gortat said. "I'm going accept everything that Coach tells me to do."

● The Magic entered Wednesday ranked first in the NBA in field-goal percentage defense. Opposing teams have made 43.6 percent of their shots against Orlando.

● The Magic took their 2009-10 team picture before Wednesday's practice.

● SG Vince Carter spent about 20 minutes after Wednesday's practice trying to sink a fullcourt shot either while he was seated or was on one knee. None of his shots went into the basket, though he came close on a couple of occasions.

Read Josh Robbins' blog at OrlandoSentinel.com/magicblog and e-mail him at jrobbins@orlandosentinel.com. Subscribe to our Magic e-mail newsletter at OrlandoSentinel.com/newsletters.